Evening Standard from London, Greater London, England • 274

trt 90 WEDNESDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2000 A' Chairman Ken Bates hails Gianluca Vialli r'? MMlMii cfelip Sport after FA Cup Final win over ir A EVENING STANDARD was to tell Vialli been sacked bought in without the complete approval of Vialli Had he been given more time Vialli may well have got it right in the end but the man who pays the manager inevitably calls the tune His departure after winning the League Cup the Cup Cup the Super Cup the FA Cup and the Charity Shield in two and a half years will send shivers down the spine of every other manager in the Premiership with the exception of Sir Alex Ferguson Vialli will of course have regrets now perhaps the biggest being hanging up his boots at 34 wanted to be a he said following the 1998 League Cup victory over Middlesbrough this job takes something from me mental energy It was typical of the man too that in the midst of the euphoria which followed his first trophy as Chelsea manager he had the presence of mind and generosity to acknowledge his predecessor For now though Vialli will take his break and ponder on events of the past 24 hours Financially he need never pick another team again but it is certain Vialli will want to continue his management career perhaps back in Italy or even here The lady in the clothes shop on Lake Garda where I spent my summer hols had no doubts like Vialli?" 1 asked slotting a picture of the man on the wall she screamed love heem and we want him back jr Newcastle in May quiet word Behind the smile a man who found it hard to communicate fall is down to the lack of a basic skill COMMENT by Michael Hart WHATEVER his failings history will judge Gianluca Vialli to be Chelsea's most successful manager up to now He won more trophies than any of his predecessors at Stamford Bridge His reign of just over two years delivered the Cup Winners' Cup the European Super Cup the FA Cup the Coca-Cola Cup and the Charity Shield The one prize that eluded him of course was the Championship but that has eluded all Chelsea managers with the notable exception of Ted Drake in 1955 The fact that Chelsea have dropped nine points in the first five games suggests that Drake's place in the club records is likely to remain unchallenged this season That has contributed to the downfall of Vialli a thoroughly decent man who in my opinion prepared for the challenge chairman Ken Bates gave him A great playing career is no guarantee of lasting managerial success Bates promoted Ruud Gullit from the playing ranks and followed the same path with Vialli What both lacked was man-management skill an essential element in coaxing the best from a team Vialli's agent Athole Still has acknowledged that his client had lost the confidence of some Chelsea players Of course the modern manager must persuade 20 or more millionaires all from different parts of the world all with egos of varying sizes that they should accept the old-fashioned values essential to a team sport Sir Alex Ferguson can do it because he learned how to while serving his coaching apprenticeship But Vialli walked off the playing field into his first coaching job and considering his lack of experience has been marvellously successful in knockout football But Bates wants success in the Premiership and the Champions League before he stands down as chairman That in my opinion requires a coach with special qualities and man-management is one of them IF GIANLUCA VIALLI needs a little solitude in the wake of his seismic departure from Chelsea he needs only to return to the bosom of his family writes Ken Dyer The Castello di Bclgioiosa stands in glorious serenity in the Lombardy countryside and with approximately 60 rooms Vialli could switch off the mobile and disappear for days Speaking just a dew days before he checked out of the Bates motel at Stamford Bridge Vialli spoke wistfully of taking a break if and when the end came at Chelsea He could not have foreseen then that it would all have happened so swiftly just five matches into a new Premiership season and with a UEFA Cup tie against Swiss side St Gallon a little more than 46 hours away That is way however Vialli may or may not recall that they were in the latter stages of two cup competitions and second in the Premiership only four points behind Manchester United when Ruud Gullit was given similar bad news The man who used to enjoy putting pepper in the underpants of team-mates and parmesan cheese in the napkin of his national manager will not be in the mood for levity today My enduring impression of Vialli during his time at Chelsea was of an intelligent man of dignity and pride who worked hard at making himself a better manager and fretted badly when things went wrong He was also a man with a 1964: Bom Cremona Italy 9 July 1980: Signs for local dub Cramonese 1985: Wins Italian Cup with Sampdoria Repeats feat in 1968 and 1989 Makes debut lor Italy against Poland 1992: Loses European Cup Final to Barcelona at Wembley Juventus pay a world record £12J million for him 1993: Wins UEFA Cup wlth juventus 1995: Scores 16 goals as Juventus win League and Cup Wbrld Player of the Year 1996: Skippers Juventus to the European Cup Joins Chelsea on a free transfer 1997: Wins FA Cup winners' medal as late substitute In victory over Middlesbrough 1998: Installed as Chelsea's player-manager following Ruud Gullit's departure highly developed sense of humour who often at least in the early days smiled with the eyes as well as the mouth All that though is at odds with the picture some of his players painted of Luca the manager Didier Dcschamps Dan and Frank Leboeuf have all recently gone public in their criticism of Vialli and a perplexing impression lias emerged of a man who within the confines of his job at least was not always goxl at communicating compatriot and former confidant Rolierto Di Matteo perhaps summed up best the change in Vialli following his elevation to Chelsea manager laugh as much as he did I)i Matteo once said Luca became manager I have lost a friend He has to think about everything now le joke as much in training We would like him to be HIS CHESEA RECORD Competitloa WDL A PmnienHp 84 45 28 20 188 87 Domestic aps18 14 2 45 13 Europe 30 17 7 8 45 23 1 1 1 i 1 totals 143 78 38 28 228128 Takes Chelsea to Coca-Cola Cup victory against Middlesbrough and wins Cup Winners' Cup against Stuttgart 2000: Misses qualification for the Champions League but wine the FA Cup like he was before He has a lot of pressure and I feel for him but he made the decision to take the job and now he has to take the In truth Vialli deal too badly with the pressures of the job Five trophies in 30 months is good enough by most standards but obviously not those set by Ken Bates The bottom line is that Bates sanctioned £236 million this summer to enhance chances of winning the Premiership The blue riband of English football has had red ribbons attached to it too often for liking and this season was meant to lie Chelsea's The opening match a 4-2 win over West Ham went broadly to plan but since then things have gone Iioar rather than pasta shaped There were rumours of internecine squabbling of Dutchman Winston Bogarde being.